Daily Headlines: June 11, 2013 (Updated)

* Costa Rica: Police have yet to identify any suspects in the murder of Costa Rican conservationist Jairo Mora Sandoval who was killed two weeks ago while protecting turtle nests.

* Latin America: Tourists from Latin America are among those who most visited the U.S. in 2012, while Mexico is using the recent visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to promote tourism from China.

* Venezuela: Authorities arrested nine alleged Colombian paramilitaries accused them of purportedly plotting to assassinate Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

(Update: Leading opposition figure Henrique Capriles responded to the news of the alleged thwarted plot by accusing the government of "putting up a smokescreen" to hide Venezuela's economic and political problems. [Link is in Spanish].)   

* U.S.: The family of Oswaldo Payá, a Cuban dissident who died in a 2012 auto accident, have gone into exile in Miami but will reportedly not seek political asylum.

Video Source – YouTube via user El Periódico cr (Vigils were held throughout Costa Rica last week calling for justice in the death of conservationist Jairo Mora Sandoval).
 
Online Sources including update- Tico Times; Los Angeles Times; Miami Herald; Fox News Latino; RTT News; Terra USA

Weekend Headlines: July 28-29, 2012

* Mexico: Protests against allegedly biased coverage by Televisa of Mexico’s recent elections have extended nationwide.

* Cuba: The widow of Oswaldo Payá rejected the Cuban government’s report alleging that the recently deceased Cuban dissident was killed in a car crash.

* Ecuador: A judge increased the fine against Chevron for environmental damage in the Amazon to over $19 billion.

* Panama: The country’s rapidly growing economy will continue its high pace in 2013 according to new government data.

Video Source – YouTube via LinkTV

Online Sources- Huffington Post, Fox News Latino, GlobalPost, Reuters

Daily Headlines: July 23, 2012 (Updated)

* Cuba: Oswaldo Payá, a leading Cuban dissident and supporter of the Varela Project, died in a car crash on Sunday.

Update: Representatives of several foreign governments on Monday expressed their condolences over Payá's death.

A White House statement, for example, praised the late dissident as "a tireless champion for greater civic and human rights in Cuba."

Meanwhile, anti-Castro activists in Cuba and exile groups in the U.S. have urged for a thorough investigation into the circumstances behind Payá's death.

"According to information we've obtained from people traveling with him, there was a vehicle trying to force him off the road... We don't think it was an accident," Payá's daughter reportedly claimed.

* Mexico: A rally organized by the YoSoy132 student movement in Mexico City yesterday was the latest protest against the results of the July 1st general elections.

* Puerto Rico: Will the commonwealth’s sagging economy lead to the end of legalized cockfighting?

* U.S.: Proceedings began last week in a civil lawsuit alleging that deputies under controversial anti-immigrant Sheriff Joe Arpaio engaged in racial profiling against Latinos in Arizona.

Video Source – YouTube via NDI Public Affairs (Circa 2003 documentary on Oswaldo Payá and the Varela Project).

Online Sources including Update - Fox News Latino, MSNBC, Bernama, Huffington Post, The Latin Americanist, Washington Post, AFP

Daily Headlines: February 27, 2012

* Cuba: Dissident Oswaldo Paya and blogger Yoani Sanchez were among the 231 nominees selected for this year’s edition of the Nobel Peace Prize.

* Honduras: A Supreme Court spokesperson claimed that under Honduran law an inmate praised for saving lives in a recent deadly prison fire cannot receive a presidential pardon.

* Spain: Baltasar Garzon, best known for indicting ex-Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, was cleared of “overstepping his jurisdiction” by investigating possible abuses during the Spanish Civil War.

* Brazil: A "high-impact discovery" that could contain at least 250 million barrels of oil was found about 120 miles off the Brazilian coast.

Image Source – Flickr via ceslava.com (Will Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez win the Nobel Peace Prize?) (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Online Sources- ABC Online, Honduras Weekly, The Latin Americanist, The Guardian, CBS News

Cuba: Prominent dissidents nominated for Nobel honors

While dissidents in Cuba struggle against a crackdown led by the government, their cause may soon receive a very prestigious honor.

Along with Wikileaks and Middle Eastern democracy activists, Cuban opposition activists are among the record 241 nominations for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Among the dissident figures in the running for the famous honor is Oswaldo Paya, a very influential political activist who founded the Varela Project initiative. Paya, who has been previously nominated on multiple occasions, was reportedly “cited for uniting the opposition to the government in Havana.” Indeed, a 2007 U.S. diplomatic cable uncovered by Wikileaks cited Paya as one of the few dissidents with the “national recognition to mobilize a figure close to one million Cubans.“

Another possible winner is Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, a well-known Cuban political prisoner whose Nobel candidacy was presented by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Biscet is one of the so-called “Group of 75” dissidents imprisoned since 2003 and serving sentences of up to 28 years behind bars. While he has campaigned against abortion, Biscet has been an outspoken critic of the Castro regime and was also the founder the nongovernment Lawton Foundation.

Biscet’s nomination has received international support including from a pair of ex-Salvadoran presidents and several Hispanic members of the U.S. Congress. He has also received the backing of another famed dissident, Guillermo Fariñas, according to the El Nuevo Herald’s website:

“(Biscet) is one of the great symbols of rebellion he hopes for democracy for the Cuban people…I believe that he has put the interests of a nation ahead of his personal (views).”

Both Paya and Biscet have received several honors for their human rights efforts. Paya received the 2002 Sakharov Prize from the European Parliament while Biscet was awarded the U.S. Medal of Freedom in 2007.

Image- daylife.com (“Cuban leader of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL) and opponent of Fidel Castro, Oswaldo Paya (L), leaves the Cuban National Assembly, in Havana, 18 December 2007.”)
Online Sources- BBC Mundo, Wikipedia, AllAfrica.com, Global Voices Online, El Nuevo Herald, BBC News, USA TODAY, EPA